With its population of 60,000, Hamelin is the economic, cultural and tourist capital of the Weser Mountain area. The legend of the Pied Piper of Hamelin (German: Der Rattenfänger von Hameln) made Hamelin world-famous. The medieval story tells of a tragedy that befell the town in the thirteenth century. The version was written by the Brothers Grimm.

Hamelin started with a monastery which was founded as early as 851. A village grew in the neighbourhood and had become a town by the 12^th century.

The city`s wealth was obtained due to its convenient position as a trading centre on the river Weser. Such prosperity resulted in the emergence of splendidly decorated houses erected by well-to-do merchants as evidence of their affluence. Thus, Hamelin evolved into a jewel of Weser Renaissance architecture. The beautiful old town centre with its delightful 16^th to 18^thcentury sandstone and half-timbered buildings was perfectly reconstructed and restored with a great effort and dedication between 1969 and 1993. Buildings in the architectural style, side by side in tight rows, can be admired in Hamelin. The entire town centre with its richly ornamented, colourful patrician houses gives the impression of a large open-air museum, yet at the same time remains the focal point of life in town.

How times have changed. The stereotype of the wife at home looking after the daughter while Dad and son mysteriously disappear until seen relaxing in the living room is interesting, however it is a whole other topic altogether. Don’t worry we won’t go there.

In any case this Disney concept “house of the future” by Monsanto highlights many aspects of technology that are commonplace today.

No longer touted as “the future”, back lit diffused lighting, speakerphones, plastic cups, plates and utensils are almost yesteryear, or today’s camping trip. But the use of plastic laminates to benchtops and flooring as well as the use of plywood (although more recently MDF) is essential in the construction of many new built homes in the present day.

Externally however, this house has very similar forms and ideas of concept designs from the last 10-15 years. One could almost say that it is finished better, with presumably no issues relating to weatherproofing and building permits.

Although now outdated, Disney saw the benefit of retaining the architectural form of the building and in 2008 Disney began the rebirth of the house to be known as the ‘Innoventions Dream Home’.

Interestingly, the exterior could still be seen to fit quite nicely into the future. A great argument for Tight build, Loose fit construction considering it was dreamt up in the 60’s.

Would local councils consider this as heritage? I hope so.

- Andrew and Dorit

http://theage.domain.com.au/design-and-living/victorian-gets-its-comeuppance-20100730-10z8u.html

After graduating, Andrew jumped straight into designing a new home for his Aunty and Uncle in Martinborough, NZ.

Andrew wrote a few words about the project:

Martinborough is a bit of an odd place. It floods fairly easily and the ground is an old river bed, hence the fertile grape growing soil and presence of many vineyards. This is the predominant reason behind the elevation of the house. Although, it is also proposed that vines be planted around the house with vistas along similar axes. Once this landscaping grows up around the house it should sit more comfortably in the beautiful valley that it inhabits.

Martinborough House was built on a very tight budget, around $1800 per square metre, by a Speculative housing company called A1 homes. A1 are generally known for their shed houses with butterfly roofs, probably of a similar budget to this property. The project was finished in May 2009 and I was not involved in the building process apart from answering some small detail queries. The builder apparently loved the home once it was finished and wanted to add it to their catalogue, not sure what I think about this idea.

It was an interesting process, but surprisingly, the general idea has been attempted to be kept. The placement of services, like gas etc. has been almost integrated in the design. Coming straight out from university, this is a folly of inexperience. I did not design around the placement of these services so the builder did his best.

The internal spaces were finalised by my Uncle and Auntie, and apart from some crazily vibrant colours that only a child could love to two of the bedrooms, the internal colours were kept very clean and simple.  The overall effect is very well done.

The point here is, once you ‘let go’ of a project it is very interesting to see where it goes. Generally, this job was completed well. But I must say that with a few finishing touches this project could have been much more pleasing architecturally.

I love this stuff. You can paint virtually any surface and it turns into a whiteboard. And it actually works well too – I requested a sample sheet and the paint doesn’t flake at all, its nice and thick, and the white board markers don’t leave any residue.

On the downside, it’s a bit pricey though… maybe the price will come down with popularity…

UPSIDE DOWN HOUSE Award Entry

It’s a house refurb and 2nd storey extension that we have recently done in Richmond, Victoria. It has been shortlisted for the Yarra City Sustainability Awards – see blog below…

Coming back to the question above, as most readers here would be aware of, one of the main focus points in our work is Sustainability, and the question of how we can help create a world that is still worth living for generations to come. All our projects feature sustainable elements as much as possible, and these include various ecological sustainable design systems (ESD), both passive and active. We incorporate these sytems into our designs and base architectural ideas on them.

Having moved from Northcote to North Fitzroy a couple of months ago, Paul Gardiner Architects now call the City of Yarra their home. So having been nominated and shortlisted for this year’s Yarra Sustainability Awards, makes us particularly happy, and we are proud to be part of a lively and forward thinking community. The project that will feature in the Awards exhibition is our “Upside-Down Living”, a sustainable and contemporary refurbishment/extension project that we have completed for a fantastic forward-thinking client in Richmond last year. Tonight, the exhibition will be opened with the “Yarra Community Celebration and Awards Night”, an event that is a local celebration of the World Environment Day and Australia’s participation in same. Wanna be part of it? Give us a call and we’ll RSVP for you. It’s on tonight, Tuesday 8 June in the Fitzroy Town Hall. The evening will include a presentation of the Yarra Sustainability Awards 2010 winners and showcase the Yarra community’s outstanding environmental projects, as well as the latest in environmentally sustainable design.

So let’s celebrate World Environment Day, together with the City of Yarra and the country of Rwanda, and if each of us contributes a special idea or donation or action towards the environment this week, then I think that would be the best celebration we can have.